Mitt Romney on Tuesday attended a relief effort in Ohio for the victims of superstorm Sandy – staying in the public eye but keeping away from political talk with just seven days left before Election Day.
“We have heavy hearts, as you know, with all of the suffering going on,” said Romney, standing on an equipment box inside a Kettering, Ohio, gymnasium. “I appreciate what you have done.”
Romney spoke for about five minutes, talking about Massachusetts’ efforts while he was governor to help Hurricane Katrina victims, before he began collecting food and other staples.
The Obama and Romney camps waded slowly into campaigning Tuesday in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, announcing events in the battleground states of Colorado and Ohio.
The Obama campaign said former President Bill Clinton will make two stops Tuesday in Colorado -- in Commerce City and Denver.
Clinton’s trip is part of a swing through battleground states and states with strong Democratic bases, which include Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Obama campaign officials also said the president is tentatively scheduled to return to the trail with a stop Thursday at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan will make two stops in Wisconsin – first in the city of La Crosse, then Hudson, to thank volunteers who are delivering or collecting items for storm relief efforts, according to the campaign.
Romney’s wife, Ann, will also attend events in Wisconsin, then travel to Iowa.
Aides at Romney's campaign headquarters plan to scale back criticism of Obama to avoid the perception they are putting politics ahead of public safety.
Aides said Romney might visit with storm victims later in the week, much as he did when Hurricane Isaac raked the Gulf Coast during the week of the Republican National Convention.
Both candidates and their running mates have tempered their campaigns, eager not to appear out of sync with more immediate worries over flooding, power outages, economic calamity and personal safety.
The storm will dominate the news and distract a nation of voters during the crucial handful of days that remain before Nov. 6.
"When the nation's largest city and even its capital are endangered, when so many people are in peril and face deprivation, it's hard to get back to arguing over taxes," said historian and presidential biographer Douglas Brinkley.
Millions were left without power as the deadly storm whipped its way through presidential battlegrounds like North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire and sprawled as far as the Great Lakes, where gales threatened Ohio's and Wisconsin's lakeside regions.
Obama has shifted from campaign mode to governing, abandoning a Florida event Monday with Clinton to return to Washington. He received a briefing from his top emergency advisers, his second in as many days. He addressed reporters at the White House, warning that recovery from the giant storm would not be swift.
Obama also expressed concern over the storm's effect on the economy, and the disruptions in New York's financial district were bound to be among those that preoccupied the administration Tuesday. Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Unwilling to cede the mantle of leadership to Obama, Romney spoke by phone to Deputy FEMA Administrator Richard Serino and officials from the Homeland Security Department and the National Weather Service. Addressing supporters in Iowa, he cautioned, like Obama, that the damage would likely be significant.
In the competition for attention, however, Obama held the edge. "This is going to be a big storm," he warned, as cable television broke off to carry his message live. "It's going to be a difficult storm. The great thing about America is when we go through tough times like this we all pull together."
But as president, Obama could bear the responsibility for any missteps in the government response to the storm. Obama advisers say they've learned the lessons from President George W. Bush's widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bush was seen as ineffective and out of touch, and his presidency never recovered.
With the race in its final full week, most national polls showed Obama and Romney separated by a statistically insignificant point or two, although some said Romney had a narrow lead for the overall popular vote.
The election will be won or lost in the nine most competitive states that are not reliably Republican or Democratic. Republicans claimed momentum in these states, but the president's campaign projected confidence. Romney's increasingly narrow focus on Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio suggested he still searched for a breakthrough in the Midwest to deny Obama the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
The U.S. president is not chosen by the nationwide popular vote, but in state-by-state contests that allocate electoral votes. Each state gets one electoral vote for each of its seats in the House of Representatives, as determined by population, and two electoral votes for each of its two senators. That means there are 538 electoral votes, including three for Washington, D.C. The winning candidate must have 50 percent, plus one, or 270 votes.
Obama is ahead in states and Washington, D.C., representing 237 electoral votes; Romney has a comfortable lead in states with 191 electoral votes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
“We have heavy hearts, as you know, with all of the suffering going on,” said Romney, standing on an equipment box inside a Kettering, Ohio, gymnasium. “I appreciate what you have done.”
Romney spoke for about five minutes, talking about Massachusetts’ efforts while he was governor to help Hurricane Katrina victims, before he began collecting food and other staples.
The Obama and Romney camps waded slowly into campaigning Tuesday in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, announcing events in the battleground states of Colorado and Ohio.
The Obama campaign said former President Bill Clinton will make two stops Tuesday in Colorado -- in Commerce City and Denver.
Clinton’s trip is part of a swing through battleground states and states with strong Democratic bases, which include Iowa, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Obama campaign officials also said the president is tentatively scheduled to return to the trail with a stop Thursday at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Romney running mate Rep. Paul Ryan will make two stops in Wisconsin – first in the city of La Crosse, then Hudson, to thank volunteers who are delivering or collecting items for storm relief efforts, according to the campaign.
Romney’s wife, Ann, will also attend events in Wisconsin, then travel to Iowa.
Aides at Romney's campaign headquarters plan to scale back criticism of Obama to avoid the perception they are putting politics ahead of public safety.
Aides said Romney might visit with storm victims later in the week, much as he did when Hurricane Isaac raked the Gulf Coast during the week of the Republican National Convention.
Both candidates and their running mates have tempered their campaigns, eager not to appear out of sync with more immediate worries over flooding, power outages, economic calamity and personal safety.
The storm will dominate the news and distract a nation of voters during the crucial handful of days that remain before Nov. 6.
"When the nation's largest city and even its capital are endangered, when so many people are in peril and face deprivation, it's hard to get back to arguing over taxes," said historian and presidential biographer Douglas Brinkley.
Millions were left without power as the deadly storm whipped its way through presidential battlegrounds like North Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire and sprawled as far as the Great Lakes, where gales threatened Ohio's and Wisconsin's lakeside regions.
Obama has shifted from campaign mode to governing, abandoning a Florida event Monday with Clinton to return to Washington. He received a briefing from his top emergency advisers, his second in as many days. He addressed reporters at the White House, warning that recovery from the giant storm would not be swift.
Obama also expressed concern over the storm's effect on the economy, and the disruptions in New York's financial district were bound to be among those that preoccupied the administration Tuesday. Storm damage was projected at $10 billion to $20 billion, making it one of the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history.
Unwilling to cede the mantle of leadership to Obama, Romney spoke by phone to Deputy FEMA Administrator Richard Serino and officials from the Homeland Security Department and the National Weather Service. Addressing supporters in Iowa, he cautioned, like Obama, that the damage would likely be significant.
In the competition for attention, however, Obama held the edge. "This is going to be a big storm," he warned, as cable television broke off to carry his message live. "It's going to be a difficult storm. The great thing about America is when we go through tough times like this we all pull together."
But as president, Obama could bear the responsibility for any missteps in the government response to the storm. Obama advisers say they've learned the lessons from President George W. Bush's widely criticized response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bush was seen as ineffective and out of touch, and his presidency never recovered.
With the race in its final full week, most national polls showed Obama and Romney separated by a statistically insignificant point or two, although some said Romney had a narrow lead for the overall popular vote.
The election will be won or lost in the nine most competitive states that are not reliably Republican or Democratic. Republicans claimed momentum in these states, but the president's campaign projected confidence. Romney's increasingly narrow focus on Iowa, Wisconsin and Ohio suggested he still searched for a breakthrough in the Midwest to deny Obama the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.
The U.S. president is not chosen by the nationwide popular vote, but in state-by-state contests that allocate electoral votes. Each state gets one electoral vote for each of its seats in the House of Representatives, as determined by population, and two electoral votes for each of its two senators. That means there are 538 electoral votes, including three for Washington, D.C. The winning candidate must have 50 percent, plus one, or 270 votes.
Obama is ahead in states and Washington, D.C., representing 237 electoral votes; Romney has a comfortable lead in states with 191 electoral votes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.